


The Moonlight Thief

by Astereae



Category: Yuri!!! on ICE, tangled - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Tangled AU, all fluff, for fun yall, royal au I guess?, uuuuummmmmm, yoi au, yurio is a horse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-15 13:54:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9237890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Astereae/pseuds/Astereae
Summary: Yuuri Katsuki wants to have his stolen crown and live in peace. He doesn't count on falling in love with a missing prince.





	1. Starlight Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I originally posted this on tumblr bug due to popular request up it goes! The first chapter is super short but more exists!

Long ago, a single drop of moonlight fell to earth, and grew into a silver flower, with extraordinary healing powers. The people of the land worshiped the moon, and they worshiped the flower, which gave them prosperity and guaranteed the birth of their children. The town was peaceful and happy.

But, as there always is, a man is afraid. Afraid of what, you may ask? Well, what are we all afraid of?  
Aging, senility, death.  
His name was Yakov and he stole the flower from the people, to prolong his life.

Even with the moon’s magic gone, the people were strong. They persevered. And, as centuries passed, a kingdom rose. A kingdom who revered the moon and had a history with magic.

All was not well, however. With no aid from the moon to insure their health, a plague swept through their land, claiming the lives of mothers and their children. As these things do, the plague came in waves, an ebb and flow of population- that was normal, it was life.

Until the beloved queen took ill.

The royal family diminishing to a small line, and the child being the first of the queens’, there was no chance they could let it die. So relying on the myths which the kingdom was built upon, they searched desperately for the moon flower which would once again bring prosperity to the land. And they found it, exposed by a reckless act on Yakov’s part. However, under the poor care of the greedy man, the centuries had not treated the blossom well. The presence would not bring the queen to health. Instead, it had to be boiled down and fed like a medicine. No matter the cost, it worked, and their son was born.

A boy named Victor, with hair like the moon and eyes like the stars. 

Celebration occurred, silverlight lanterns released into the air in honor of the new beautiful prince. Yakov was bitter though, and aging fast. In the night, he snuck into the castle to once again locate his youth.

In order for the moon to bless, a song must be sung. Yakov stilled the prince’s cradle and began. The infant’s silver hair lit the dark room, bleeding into the square of moonlight cast from the empty window. Only a lock was necessary- Yakov cut a small section, which fell limp in his hand. Just like the blossom, the hair wouldn't heal when taken from its roots. So he took the child into the night, and the kingdom has never seen him since.

 

So long as Victor could remember, he had lived with Yakov. His hair grew long- never cut, for it would lose its magic. A song sung to heal, the brightness matching the moon as his boy’s soprano rang through the tower.  
And, for as long as he could remember, on his birthday each year, a flood of moving lights swirled through the sky like the river of stars. Victor wanted to see where they came from, somewhere to the east. He wanted to feel the grass and dance under the moon. But Yakov knew what was bad for him, and he had to stay away from what was bad for him. And outside, according to Yakov, was the definition of bad.

Years passed in the perpetual life, years measured by inches and feet of hair, tones of white and grey and silver unsuited for Victor’s young and handsome face. His days were spent alone, painting on the walls, jumping between the banisters and rafters, cooking and playing with his poodle Makkachin. Reading the same books over and over again, one too easy, one too thick and a romance that was falling apart at the bindings. Every activity was done to perfection, but practice made them fleeting things, and the majority of his time was spent on idle thoughts of the people in the outside world, of the meaning accompanying the river of stars, and a romance that would never come.


	2. A crown, a horse, and an idiot.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katsuki, daring cutthroat thief, is messing up the kingdom.  
> And Yakov knows best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Both plots and they don't quite meet yet! But! Yakov sings! This is what we all wanted from life!

Katsuki knew what he was doing was wrong. Did it stop him from doing it?  
No.  
Did it make him feel the tiniest bit guilty?  
Again, no.

He stood on the roof of the castle, admiring the view of the countryside and the winding streets that, when filled by people, looked like a shimmering and rippling wave. He smiled at his compatriots.  
“Wonderful view. I'd love a view like this every day, it seems easy to get used to.” He shot an easy smile at the two large men- Christophe and Georgi.  
They grunted.  
“You, see, guys, if I get a castle it would-”  
“Pull this off and you can buy a castle, Katsuki.” Georgi said.  
Katsuki smiled, away from their view.

They hopped from rooftop to rooftop, until coming across the crown room’s distinct curvature. A tile was removed, and Katsuki tied a study rope around his waist. His compatriots, stupid though they were, were strong, and lowered his slight form down the hall, directly above the crown.  
Ha, Katsuki thought, the next great thing I do will be to steal the crown from the kings head.  
A guard sneezed. Panic brought the thief to his first defense- humor.

“Hay fever?” He asked, one hand on the crown, the other on his chin, elbow resting on the pedestal.  
“Yeah.” The guard responded, wiping his nose. The moment the guard realized the nature of the voice, however, the tile of roof was being lowered into place.

“Woo!” Katsuki called, running across the terracotta slates. “This has been fun!” The castle raised its alarms behind him, and they ran faster, across the bridge and into the forest.

 

In the middle of a useless afternoon, a voice cracked his reverie.  
“Vitya! Let down your hair!” called someone from the window. Victor looped up armfuls of silver hair as he scrambled from his bed to the window, looking down to Yakov, who stood with his hands on his hips.  
“Of course!” Victor shouted, letting the bundle cascade from his arms, down, down, down. Yakov took a few fistfuls and Victor lugged him up, arm length after arm length.

“So.” Victor began as Yakov stepped inside.  
“So? So, so so. I do say, Vitya, have you always been so tall? You certainly are growing.”  
“Ah, yes, and that's something I want to talk about-”  
“Come here-” and just like that, the conversation had lost its rails, being pulled away from Victor’s careful script by Yakov’s impatience.   
“Sing for me.” Yakov said- this was always the first thing he had to do. As quickly as Victor could, he arranged the seating and handed Yakov the brush. He sang as quickly as he could, the words spilling from his mouth faster than the light could spread down his hair.  
“Ok, so can I talk to you though? You see, I'm turning twenty and-”  
“Victor, what's this nonsense? Me, me, me, blah blah blah. You didn't even ask me how I've been doing.”  
“How are you doing?” Victor said slowly.  
“I'd be a bit happier if you would've said that first.”  
“Well, you see, as I'm turning twenty and that's, you know, kinda a big deal, I was wondering,”  
“What.” Yakov snapped.  
“Well, for my birthday, I was wondering, well, you know, if I could, I mean, with you with me...”  
“Get the the point, Vitya, I'm not getting any younger.”  
“Well, I want to go- goseethefloatinglights.”  
“I'm afraid you'll have to stop mumbling, Vitya, I didn't understand a word of what you just said.”  
“I- you see, every year, a lot of floating silver lights appear on my birthday. I'd like to see them. Outside.” He drew back the curtains on the painting he had done that morning- a boy with long silver hair on top of a tree, a snake of silver lighting the sky above him.  
“Surely you mean the stars. Stop being delusional, darling.”  
“No!” Victor said, surprising even himself. “The stars have patterns.” He pulled on a lever to bathe a star chart in light. “You can chart them. These lights- they don't have rhyme or reason. And they only appear on my birthday- so I feel, well, you see, I feel like they're meant for me.”

“You want to go outside. Oh why, Vitya? Look at you, as fragile as a flower, still a little sapling, just a sprout. You know why we stay up in this tower”   
“I know but-”   
“That's right, to keep you safe and sound, dear. Guess I always knew this day was coming. Knew that soon you'd want to leave the nest. Soon, but not yet”  
“But-”  
“Shh, trust me, pet. Yakov knows best.”

 

“Yakov knows best. Listen to your coach, It's a scary world out there. Yakov knows best. One way or another. Something will go wrong, I swear.  
there are ruffians, thugs, poison ivy, quicksand, cannibals and snakes, the plague.”  
“No.”  
“Yes.”  
“But-”  
“Also large bugs, men with pointy teeth and- Stop, no more, you'll just upset me-  
“I'm right here I will protect you, Vitya, here's what I suggest- Skip the drama, Stay with me now, Yakov knows best.”  
“Go ahead, get trampled by a rhino, go ahead, get mugged and left for dead. Me, I'm just your coach, what do I know? I only bathed and changed and nursed you.”  
“Go ahead and leave me, I deserve it- Let me die alone here, be my guest! When it's too late, you'll see, just wait. Yakov knows best.”  
“Yakov knows best, take it from your coach, now, on your own, you won't survive. Sloppy, under-dressed, immature, clumsy, please, they'll eat you up alive. Gullible, naive, positively grubby, ditzy and a bit, well, hmm, vague, plus, I believe, gettin' kinda chubby, I'm just saying 'cause I love you.  
I understand, I'm here to help you, All I have is one request-  
“Victor?”  
“Yes?”  
“Don't ever ask to leave this tower again.”  
“Alright.”  
“Oh, I love you very much, dear.”  
“I love you more”   
“I love you most”  
“Don't forget it, you'll regret it- Yakov knows best.”  
And after that, Yakov slid down Victor’s hair, calling his farewells.

 

Hooves pounded on the trail behind them as they wound through the woodland. As they miraculously outstripped the pursuit, a piece of white paper caught the corner of Katsuki’s eye. He stopped off the tree from which it was hanging. A low moan escaped his throat. He touched his nose self consciously and then the paper.  
“Have an issue?” Christophe asked, an eyebrow raised.  
“No.” Katsuki said, then to himself- “it doesn't really look like that, does it?”  
“It will if you don't get a move on.” Georgi said, and they both took off down the path.  
Katsuki dropped the paper and darted after them.  
The winding trees and indiscriminate path led them into a narrow gulch. Katsuki panicked for a second.  
“I’m the lightest. You two boost me up and I'll lift you.”  
“Give us the crown first, shrimp.”  
Reluctantly, Katsuki removed the bag from his torso and handed it to the large awaiting palm.

Ascending the wall of earth was a difficult and touchy task, which made the groping for the satchel containing the crown that much easier. As he scrambled to the top he peeked over at the two men.  
“Now you help us up.” Christophe said.  
“Afraid I don't need to!” Katsuki said, presenting the satchel. “Really hope we can catch up soon!”  
One of them, or both of them shouted his name as he darted into the trees.

However easy it had been to drop Christophe and Georgi, not so for the guards. Katsuki darted through the trees, but he couldn't seem to loose them. A particular white stallion led the charge, without regard to its rider.  
Through a series of events, and this disregard led to Katsuki on its back, the other guards and horses gone. And the horse was going nowhere.

“Would you mind... just!” He kicked the horse again, but it was as stubborn as a mule. Then it bucked him. Katsuki flew, and the horse chased after him. As soon as he was on his feet, he ran, but the strap of the satchel caught on a stray branch. The horse approached him, triumphant. Katsuki tugged desperately, and it finally gave way- over his head and onto the precarious branch of a tree, growing from the cliff side. It was also, coincidentally, the first time he noticed there was a cliff. The horse had omitted this observation as well, and after this moment of shock, they both lunged for the tree.  
Katsuki reached it first, but fell, barely hanging on by hugging the tree- he inched further down it, avoiding the horse’s sharp hooves until he reached the bag. He snatched it, and had just enough time to say “aha!” before the branch cracked, and they all plummeted. 

Katsuki didn't know about the horse, but he hit the ground rolling- fog had made the cliff look a lot higher than it really was. He checked the satchel again, then took off running, hearing the horse thundering behind him.  
It really had to survive, didn't it. He thought spitefully. Trying to hide, he ran his hand along a wall of vines- not expecting them to fall back. He ducked inside the opening and held his breath as the horse paused, then continued on.  
Slowly, Katsuki turned around. He wasn't in a cave- no, rather a tunnel made of mossy rocks. He walked down it slowly, shoving away more vines to find it- a beautiful crescent shaped valley, with a high tower in the center.

After he circled the base a couple times and confirming there was no entrance, Katsuki pulled out two arrows and hoisted himself up, slowly and painfully. He reached the open window and clambered into the room, pulling out the crown.  
“Ok, so now we-” and he was hit in the head, and promptly passed out cold.


	3. Someone's being a bit too forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor interrogates Katsuki. The manner in which he does it is distracting to one(1) party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is.... what it is... I'm proud. Please love it. And smolder aka Eros mode but it backfires.

Victor didn't know what to do with the man. He looked shorter than Victor, with pitch black hair and a child's face. Victor couldn't tell his age. He pulled back the man's lips with the frying pan- no fangs.  
“No fangs, Makkachin.” He said. A light groan escaped the man’s lips and his eyes fluttered. Victor brought the frying pan back down.

It was hard to fit him into the wardrobe, but Victor managed, after attempting an array of situations.  
“I have a man in my closet.” He said to the mirror. “I have a man in my closet.”  
Makkachin bumped his head into Victor’s calf to show him the leather bag that the man had on him. Something was sticking out of it, golden and glinting in the winter sun. Victor approached it, and pulled it out. It was round, with spikes and a pleasant array of brightly cut stones. Victor put it on his wrist- it was far too large, and hung precariously. Makkachin shook his head. Victor held it up and looked through the cut stones so that images bounced and reflected. Makkachin shook his head again. Hesitantly, Victor brought the object to his head and rested it there, atop his silver locks. Something about the scene felt incredibly right.  
Victor was broken from trying to figure this feeling out by Yakov’s gruff voice.  
“Vitya! Let down your hair!”  
“Ach, coming!” He called back, shoving the crown back in the satchel and tossing it under his bed.  
Victor tossed his hair out of the window. The ground below Yakov was white, and the trees in the medow were covered too. It had snowed, probably last night. It was a wonder Victor hadn't noticed. Yakov said snow was cold, but Victor wasn't so sure. With the bright December sun glinting off it, it looked warm and almost alive.  
By the time Victor had hauled Yakov up, all of the snow that had caught in the tips of his hair had melted.  
“I have a big surprise!” Victor said.  
“What a wonder!” Said Yakov. “So do I!”  
“Mine is... kinda a big deal.” Victor said.  
“I bet mine is bigger.”  
“I seriously doubt it.” Victor murmured. “What's your surprise?” He asked out loud.  
“I have parsnips. We’ll make hazelnut soup. Your favorite.”  
“Ok, but,”  
“What, Vitya?”  
“Well, you see, I get how you said the outside world is too dangerous for me, but I have something that might change your mind.”  
“Victor I thought we stopped all of this outside nonsense.”  
“No, you don't understand-”  
“Don't argue with me-”  
“Just listen-”  
“Victor, don't take that tone with me-”  
“I can do it!”  
“No, you can't. You are never. Leaving. This. Tower.”  
Their voices had crescendoed so that the tower chamber rang in their absence.  
“I'm sorry, Vitya, flower, I need you safe.” Yakov said, placing his hand on Victor’s shoulder.  
“I've decided what I want for my birthday.” Victor muttered.  
“Vitya?” Yakov asked, lips pursed.  
“I want the special paints. Made from the shells on the eastern coast.”  
“But that's a three day journey, can't you think of something more immediate?”  
“Please?”  
“Of course. You know that means I will have to leave right away.”  
“I know.”  
“I love you, flower.”  
“I love you more.”  
“I love you most.”

***

When Katsuki woke up, it was after a persistent patting, and then the final push- something wet in his ear.  
He tried to push off the offender- something small on his shoulder, but his arms wouldn't move, they were pinned to his side. Instead, he turned his head to knock off the whateveritwas.  
The rope- if it could be called that- was fine and varying colors of silver, thick and wrapped around him an impossible amount of times. it wasn't just wrapped around him, it was draped over the rafters and railings of the small room. He followed the lines and contours of it to the silhouette of a man.  
Was it... hair?  
“Who are you?” Said the shadow. He had an odd voice, an accent that sounded archaic. “Who else knows my location. What do you want with my hair.”  
“This is all hair?” Katsuki asked.  
The man stepped into the light. “You don't want my hair? You don't know what it does?”  
“Look, I don't have my glasses. All I know is that you have a lot of hair and no shirt on.”  
“What are glasses?” His w’s sorta sounded like v’s, Katsuki decided.  
“Two bits of glass? Attached by a wire? They're in my satchel.”  
“Oh.” Said the shadow, and ran out of Katsuki’s field of vision. He could hear the soft pitter patter of bare feet and the unique sound of hair being pulled across a ceramic floor, which was not a sound Katsuki had encountered before, but it couldn't be anything else.  
The glasses were placed on his nose, and the room bleed out of obscurity into lines and angles. Katsuki blinked a couple of times. Suddenly there was a man in front of him.  
As per Katsuki’s first observation, he had no shirt and a lot of silver hair. His eyes were a vibrant shade of green-blue that Katsuki couldn't quite fathom.  
“What.” He said in his unusual and charming voice. Katsuki threw his head back with as much force as he could muster, knocking his chair to the ground.  
“Woah!” The man said, and pulled on a handful of hair. “Why did you do that?”  
Katsuki held his breath, trying to make his heart rate go back down.  
“Who are you.” The man said, holding something black and cold against Katsuki’s chin. “Or else I will knock you out again.”  
Katsuki went cross-eyed trying to look at the object. “With a frying pan?” He finally asked.   
“Yes.” The man stated. It was hard to argue when the delivery was that matter-of-fact.  
Katsuki gulped, and his Adam's apple scraped the cast iron. “I'm Katsuki, famous daredevil and theif, at your service.” He said, the words tripping over each other. “And you are?”  
“My name is Victor.” Victor said. And Katsuki couldn't help it- he scoffed.  
“You expect me to believe that? You're what, twenty? There's no way that's your name.”  
“Pardon? Of course it's my name.”  
“Seeing as you are in the position of power at the moment, I have no place to argue with you.”  
“So you expect me to believe Katsuki is a real name, and then tell me it's impossible to be named Victor?”  
“Not impossible, Victor is a totally common name just that- fuck, if you don't know what glasses are I shouldn't expect you understand the politics behind this.”  
“Well, I notice you have a good understanding of the outside world-”  
“As much as anyone who’s lived in it-” Victor raised his voice to cover Katsuki’s.  
“So, you're going to be my guide.”  
“Guide to where exactly?”  
“To see the floating lights. They'll go through the sky tonight.”  
“The silverlight lanterns?”  
“Lanterns. I knew they weren't stars.”  
“And why would I do this?”  
“Because I have your crown, little piggy.”  
“Piggy?” Katsuki asked indignantly.  
Victor poked his stomach- Katsuki could admit he'd been getting chubby lately- and smiled. “Believe me. You could tear this tower apart but you'll never find it without my help.”  
It took Katsuki a furtive glance around before stating, “ It's in that pot.” And bring promptly hit in the head. There wasn't even a second of fuzziness before his vision went black.

The second time Katsuki woke up with a tongue in his ear, there was no soft hitting as a precedent. He whipped his head to the side to see a scaly green thing on his shoulder.  
“What is this thing?” He asked, affronted.  
“My poodle, Makkachin.” Victor said.  
“Sorry to inform you, but a poodle is a dog. I have no clue as to what this thing is.”  
“... a dog?”  
Katsuki sighed.  
“Either way, now the crown is hidden so that you'll never find it.” Victor said. “So what do you say?”  
“All I have to do is take you to go see the lanterns?”  
“And get me back before Yakov gets home, in three days.”  
“And I'll have my crown?  
“Yes.”  
“Look, I really don't have time to escort some sheltered rich boy across this kingdom, which, I might add, does not like me very much. So it's come down to this.”  
“To what?” Victor asked.  
“The smoulder.” Katsuki said. In one fell swoop, he shook his glasses off his head and flipped his hair back. In an effort to focus on Victor’s face, his eyes narrowed.  
“Oh.” Victor observed, and went to retrieve Katsuki’s glasses.  
“What? Nothing?”  
Victor placed the glasses on Katsuki’s face and pushed them up his nose.  
“You’ll have to try harder than that, little piggy. Will you be my guide or not?”  
“Just to see the floating lights?”  
“Just to see the floating lights.”  
“Fine.” Katsuki relented. “Please untie me.”


	4. Touchdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They get out of the tower and play in snow and begin to fall in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Snow fights are fluff fights.  
> Oh right this is also the chapter with the chiffon hanger have fun.

Katsuki stretched and looked at Victor again. If it was possible, he was still getting even more attractive, the longer Katsuki looked at him. Details that his field of vision (and his vision itself) had omitted became clear.  
He was shirtless, of course, and his chest was, well, very nice. His back was muscular and his arms toned- he certainly didn't look like someone who’d only been in a thirty foot cube his entire life. He had a heart-shaped smile as he talked excitedly about the things he was going to do. He paced around the small space, gathering loops of hair. He reached the end, pile spilling from his arms.  
“Let’s go!” He said, a bright smile on his face. How, thought Katsuki, in the world are his teeth so white.  
“Wait, aren't you going to put on a shirt? Or shoes?”  
“Why?”  
“It's the middle of winter, it's freezing out. You’ll get hypothermia.”  
“I’ll get what?” Victor asked, dropping his hard-gathered pile of hair.  
“Look, do you own a shirt and boots?”  
“Of course.”  
“Well, you ought to put them on.”  
“Could you help me?”  
“Could I what?” Katsuki asked, his face almost certainly red.  
“Help me put them on? It's a pain to put on a shirt with this much hair.”  
“I’m sorry, I'm not sure that I-”  
“We’re running on little time. Come on.” Victor said.  
Katsuki followed Victor silently to help him.

Victor was right, it was a pain to put on a shirt with so much hair. It (the hair) looped out a little from his collar, but the rest stuck out the bottom like a horse’s tail.  
“Here.” Victor said, handing him the small, yet still sizable, portion of his hair. “Take this and run.”  
“Excuse me?” Katsuki asked.  
“Hold it loosely, like in one arm, and run around a bit. So that the hair will come out.”  
“How did you put on shirts before?”  
“I was creative. This way is much easier, though.”   
Katsuki grabbed the armful of hair and pulled on it. The sensation was, oddly enough, pleasurable, and he ran around the tower room a fair number of times before the hair reached its end, and Katsuki found himself almost disappointed. The hair had smelled of some sort of flower, and had a nice weight to it. Although all on Victor’s head, it must weigh thousands of pounds.  
Victor pulled on his socks and shoes and was ready to go. Katsuki retrieved his arrows from the place he had dropped them below the window, and began lowering himself (quite terrifyingly) down the tower. As he was about halfway down, silver hair fell to the snow beside him. He looked up to see Victor. perched on the sill, frying pan held like a comfort device and Makkachin (Frog? Lizard? Definitely not a poodle.) tied securely on his shoulder.  
“What happened to the confident attitude? I thought you wanted to get out of this place.”  
“I do.” Victor called down, and stepped off the edge. The hair looped and twisted from the speed, and he let out a whoop. Then he paused, an inch above the snow.  
“Come on princess, it won't bite.” Katsuki said as he paused next to him.  
“I know that.” Victor said indignantly, and let himself fall into the snow.

The snow was deeper than Victor had expected, and so, so cold. He hadn't known what cold felt like, not really, when he was up in the tower. The cold there was early morning chill where you didn't want to put your feet on the floor. This kind of cold was painful, biting his feet like needles.   
He loved it.  
Katsuki dropped to the snow beside him, one hand on the ground to brace himself, but he immediately picked it up and shook it off.  
“Why did you call me princess?” Victor asked.  
“Why did you call me piggy?”  
“Piggy makes sense. However, I'm obviously the prince in this scenario.” Katsuki shot Victor a look then, and he had no clue as to what it meant. The bright light that the snow reflected sparkled in his dark brown eyes and- and Victor totally missed what he said next.  
“Pardon?”  
Katsuki shook his head. “I said, isn't the princess usually the one being rescued, not the one doing the rescuing?”  
“Not this time.”  
“Come on then, grab your hair. I want to get this over with as soon as possible.” Katsuki said, starting forward.  
Instead of following him, Victor fell face first into the white snow bank. “How can you want to leave! There's so much snow, I love it!” Katsuki tried to pull Victor up, but he rolled away. “Haha it's so fluffy! Isn't it amazing, Makkachin?” Victor dashed around, pausing every few steps to check the trail his hair left in the snow. He grabbed armfuls of the stuff and tossed it.  
“Come on.” Katsuki said impatiently, only to be hit by a lightly packed snowball. “Oh please.” He said, stooping down to grab some snow. Victor smiled wide as he got hit and didn't stop laughing until he and Katsuki were both soaked.  
“I didn't know the outside was this fun!” Victor exclaimed.   
“You're going to catch a cold. Come on, I want to get this over with as soon as possible.” Katsuki grabbed Victor’s arm.

Victor can't say he made the next couple hours easy for his poor guide. Every turn provided him with a new surprise that he would have to sit and examine. His hair was wet and frozen and it had to be looped up in soggy piles divided between him and Katsuki. Every tree had to be climbed, cave explored and rock turned over. It was all so exciting, stimulating, and Katsuki walked alongside him looking very done.  
On the flip side of this, every time Victor felt excited, every time he learned the name of something or had to shake show from his boot, he remembered how much Yakov had wanted him to stay, how furious he would be if he figured out. The switch happened every couple of minutes, and suddenly Victor was droopy and unenthusiastic, and Katsuki asked if he wanted to go back to his tower. This question was met with a fiery response and the return of Victor bouncing about.  
“Katsuki, I'm hungry.” Victor said.  
Katsuki grinned a grin Victor didn't know the meaning of.

Yuri hadn't caught the thief. There was still work to be done, even without his rider. He prowled the area where he had lost track. An old man who smelled of magic stopped him.  
“You're a royal horse. What are you doing this far from the castle? And where’s your rider... Vitya!”


	5. Victor takes Yuutopia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor lead singer a hearty chorus and keeps himself and Katsuki from being killed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the most recent one on tumblr. I really am developing their relationship a lot in the next chapter like. So much love. You guys aren't ready for what I'm going to do.

Come on.” Victor said, practically dragging Katsuki. “You said you knew people around here! Take me!”  
“Look, I'm not sure it's the sort of place where someone like you would like to go.”  
“Please, Katsuki? Please please please?”  
“Fine!” Katsuki snapped, and Victor released his arm. “Don't say I didn't warn you.”  
“Is it this place? Yuu..to..pia? It sounds nice! Let's go!” Victor said upon seeing a sign which was indeed, the place where Katsuki knew people. He nodded.

When Yakov called for Victor, he did not let down his hair. He tore at the stone walls until his fingers were bloodied and he opened the entrance which had been blocked up as soon as Vitya’s hair was long enough to climb. The tower room was dark. Victor’s winter coat and boots, only there in case of emergency, were gone. A chair was toppled in the middle of the room, and Victor was nowhere in sight.  
“Vitya! Vitya, where are you?” Yakov shouted as he turned over tables and cabinets. There was a leather satchel under the chair. Inside there was naught but a piece of old paper, a wanted sign- a thief named Katsuki. Yakov had heard of him in his travels, dangerous, a cutthroat-double crosser, all in all, one with low respect for other humans and famous for his most daring caper yet- stealing the prince's crown right from its pedestal. Yakov glanced about again. There- under the staircase. A shining piece of metal. Yakov retrieved it. It had been so long since he had seen it last.  
He hadn't even been gone for a day. There's no way he could've gotten far.

“So are your friends in charge of this restaurant?” Victor asked.  
“They're almost family.”   
“Is the food there good?”  
“The best!”  
“What kind?”  
“Pork cutlet bowls.”  
“What are those?”  
“Well, you'll have to find. out. Won't you?” Katsuki said in exasperation.   
“Do you have to be so grumpy?”  
“Do you have to ask so many questions? We’re here.”  
Victor threw open the door before Katsuki could mutter a single word of warning.

There had been a ruckus going on inside the pub, there always was. The second Katsuki walked in, though, it stopped, a scene played out in magnificent detail- Minako with her hands around a customer's throat, Mama with a pan raised over her head and papa with a blood stained menu. Regulars that Katsuki could almost recognize were distributed in the small space, participating in various undergroundly activities that included gambling, deviating degrees of physical assault, and something bubbling on a pot. Victor clutched Katsuki’s arm and his knuckles turned white on the handle of the frying pan.  
“Hi there... fellas...” Katsuki began. A particular young man- Minami Keijiro, Katsuki believed, held a knife to Katsuki’s throat. “You're showing you're face here again? That's pretty cocky, even for you.”  
Victor leaned close to his ear. “Why is that?”  
“I thought you were gonna retire after our job on that one lord or whatever. But you blew it, huh?”  
“Look, Minami, as I appreciate your concern for my welfare, but as you can see, I'm transporting this very valuable cargo so if you could?” Carefully, Katsuki pushed the knife away and grabbed Victor’s hand. “See?” He said quietly Victor. “This is what it's like in the real world. So we could just take you back to your tower, you can give me my satchel,”  
“Hey!” Another person said. Suddenly he was in Katsuki’s face instead of Minami. Before he could judge his face though, a paper was shoved up against his glasses.  
“Is this you?” Katsuki peeled the paper off. He winced as he saw the drawing there and his name.  
“Please.” He placed the poster back in their hands. “With a nose like that... please.”  
“There's a pretty high price on your head, isn't there?” Maybe two men slipped out the door. Katsuki couldn't tell.  
“I'm just here to get some meals, alright? No confrontation.”  
“Two specials?” Mama asked. Katsuki nodded wearily.  
“Thanks Ma.”  
“She's your mother?” Victor asked  
“Everyone calls her that.”  
“And what does everyone call you?” A man called from the pub bristling with whispers. “Hair boy?”  
“I'm Victor.” He said confidently.  
And then no one spoke, whispered, breathed. The only sound was the bubbling of the pot and rats scuttling on the floor.  
“Is there something wrong with that?”  
Katsuki was made aware of shining iron in every corner. Axes and knives and spears were at the ready. Victor grabbed his arm tighter.  
“Please, I just want to live my dream.” Victor said. “Haven't any of you ever had a dream?”  
“I have a dream.” Someone spoke up from the corner. “I want to head an ice show. All choreographed by me, and performed with all my friends.”  
“Pichit.” Katsuki whispered.  
“Can't you see us all skating about in the cutest costumes? Rainbows and hamsters everywhere?”  
“I can sew the costumes, designing is my dream.”  
“All my friends would be there it's the most amazing thing you see? What's better than finally living your dream?”  
“I've got a dream, I've got a dream. I'm not so angry and frightening as I seem!”  
“Victor, hide!” Katsuki said, grabbing him by a handful of silver hair.  
“Why?”  
“That's Georgi. He... well, let's say he isn't the type to ask questions before sheathing a knife in you.”  
“Why do you have so many enemies?”  
“I guess you could say I'm not a nice person.” Katsuki said, then ducked under the bar as Georgi leaned closed to Victor.  
“Despite my scary countenance and my relationships haven't been the best, I've always wanted to find my truest love. I'd cherish her without a thought, there would be nothing she’d have to want, I'd be the best boyfriend in the world! I've got a dream! And I know one day romance will reign supreme! Though my face leaves people screaming, there's a child behind it, dreaming. Like everybody else I've got a dream” Victor patted him on the head, and then turned him and pushed him gently back into the crowd.  
“And you ‘Victor’? You got a dream?”  
“I have a dream!” Victor said loudly.   
“He has a dream!” The bar echoed.  
“I just want to see the floating lanterns gleam! And every passing hour I'm so glad I left my tower. Like all you lovely folks I've got a dream.”  
Suddenly, the door busted open. Christophe stood there with a smile. “I've got the guards!”  
The rowdy bar again fell silent.  
“Come on.” Mama said, pulling Victor over the bar. Katsuki jumped over on his own accord. They looped up Victor’s still somewhat soggy hair and ma pulled one of the beer levers which- instead of causing one of the spouts to gush beer as it ought, opened up a trap door. “You can't run an establishment like this without a backdoor. You're a handsome young man. I'd like to see you live your dream.”  
“I'll try my best.” Katsuki said.  
“You didn't even share. I was talking to Victor.”  
“Thank you, ma.” Victor said, and they began down the tunnel, the trapdoor shutting them in the darkness.

 

Yuri busted into the pub. It was underworldly, and the yeasty smell of alcohol mixed with the tang of urine was thick in the air. It was exactly the sort of place he'd expect to see that thief. He sniffed around until he caught the trail- it led straight into the floor. He stomped on it angrily until the boards gave way to a tunnel.  
“They went this way?” A guard asked. His tone was too close to patronizing. Yuri shot him a droll look, but nodded. Carefully, he led the pursuit into the tunnel.

 

Outside Yuutopia, Yakov ran into Christophe scolding Georgi.   
“You’re telling me Katsuki was two feet away from you and you let him get away cause you were talking about your love life? I'm disappointed.”  
“What do you know about love?”  
“More than you, I'd reckon.”  
“Boys!” Yakov called. “I have your crown. You could have it now if you like.”  
This was effective at shutting them up. “Is there a catch?” Christophe snarled.  
“Only a job if you want to take it?”  
“And why would we?” Georgi asked.  
“It comes with revenge on a certain man named Katsuki.”


	6. Dams broken and secrets revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There had to be something to the way he clung to him. There had to be some way Katsuki stood a chance-  
> No. The good, logical part of his brain stated. He’s too handsome for you, the only reason he might like you would be some sort of impression thing because you're the first person he's ever seen, he's too nice. And especially if he is who you think he is... there's no chance.  
> The ultra logical part of his brain asked: why the _hell _are you thinking about this, you are _about to die _.__  
>  “The exit’s up here!” He said.  
> “Why are we running from the guards?” Victor asked. “Are the king and queen corrupt? Or is the corruption lower in the hierarchy?”  
> “What are you talking about? Our government’s fine! Other then losing a prince a while back it's been pretty good!”__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently putting in a good quote frond the chapter is what y'all do for the summary? Good to know.  
> Please go and support the work on my blog nickelpenn.tumblr.com, tagged as the moonlight theif or the tangled au.

Katsuki, Katsuki it’s dark!” Victor said, holding onto Katsuki's arm.  
“That's why we have the torch. Do you have to cling to me like that?”  
“Oh... sorry.” Victor said, leaning back. “Does it bother you?” Katsuki's face was red in the torchlight, or maybe it was just red. He pursed his lips.  
“Yes. You're very bothering.” He sighed. “I mean... just don't hang off me. If you're worried about getting lost it's okay.” Victor slid his hand off Katsuki’s arm until just their two little fingers were linked.  
“Katsuki, do you have a wife?”  
Katsuki nearly dropped the torch. “Excuse me?”  
“We're traveling together, so we might as well get to know eachother. So do you have a wife? Girlfriend? Mistresses?”  
“Woah, woah woah, getting a bit ahead of yourself there. No. No to all of those.”  
“Oh please, you must have had childhood crushes!”  
“How about we don't talk about my childhood. You're just cargo, I feel no need to get personal with you.”  
“So have you transported people before?”  
“I've done a lot of things.”  
“Have you ever killed someone?”  
“We’re getting off topic. Besides, my life is probably smooth sailing compared to yours.”  
“Why would that be? I've done nothing my whole life. Just locked up in that dumb tower.”  
“Exactly. Isn't it sort of messed up to do that to a kid?”  
“It was just to protect me.”  
“From what?”  
“I don't know, maybe people who want their way with my-Katsuki?” His hand was held up close to Victor’s face.  
“Shut up, I need to... listen...”  
“What is it?”  
“Guards. Come on!” Katsuki's hand wrapped around Victor's cold fingers as they ran down the earth made corridor.

Although they were running for their lives, Katsuki's mind was on one thing. How in the world Victor had managed to get him all hot and bothered like that. Something about the image of him standing on the barstool and announcing his dream unabashedly to everyone was stuck in his mind. Or maybe the way snowflakes looked in his hair. Or his heart shaped smile. There had to be something to the way he clung to him. There had to be some way Katsuki stood a chance-  
No. The good, logical part of his brain stated. He’s too handsome for you, the only reason he might like you would be some sort of impression thing because you're the first person he's ever seen, he's too nice. And especially if he is who you think he is... there's no chance.  
The ultra logical part of his brain asked: why the _hell _are you thinking about this, you are _about _to _die _.______  
“The exit’s up here!” He said.  
“Why are we running from the guards?” Victor asked. “Are the king and queen corrupt? Or is the corruption lower in the hierarchy?”  
“What are you talking about? Our government’s fine! Other then losing a prince a while back it's been pretty good!”  
“Then why do you insist on aggravating it?”  
“I think it's already been established that I'm a fundamentally amoral person. If going behind the law is the best way to earn money then I'll do it!”  
The pair stumbled out onto a wooden bridge above a ravine, water to one side, a deadly fall to the other.  
“Victor, be careful! Ice!”  
In order to get their feet back under them, they had to stop and drop Victor’s hair. The guards burst from the tunnel, but they were slow and unsteady on the ice.  
“Ok, ok. Victor, just hold onto my hand and don't let go.”  
“Already doing that!”  
They ran and slid across the frozen wood planks until two figures appeared at the other end.  
“Shit.” Katsuki said.  
“Who are they?”  
“Some people who don't like me very much.”  
“What do we do?”  
“I don't know!”  
“Ummmmm... oh!” Victor said. “My hair can reach that column there, you see? Take this.” He handed Katsuki the pan and took a hold of his hair. With a motion too fast for Katsuki to follow, Victor whipped the hair over the edge, it spun around and caught the wooden pole.  
“Katsuki, I'm not sure if it’ll hold the both of us, what should we-” Victor stuttered.  
“Go!” Katsuki ordered. Victor jumped over the edge. He swung and landed by another tunnel entrance, which if not the one they wanted, at least,led away from here.  
Which left Katsuki alone on an icy bridge against soldiers, ruffians and a horse- that was proving to be something of a mortal enemy- with only a frying pan.  
The horse charged him.  
How, Katsuki couldn't fathom. Did he have ice spikes on the bottom of his horseshoes? The world may never know. It held the sword from one of the fallen soldiers in its teeth. Katsuki whipped his head around desperately, looking for a weapon, before glancing down at the cast iron pan in his hands. He shrugged lightly in the second before the horse reached him and he raised the pan to block its blow.  
They must’ve made quite a scene, sparring and parrying. “I'll have you know,” Katsuki said, “that this is the weirdest thing I've ever done.”  
The horse raised its eyebrows before jabbing again. Katsuki parried, and then jabbed a blow himself that landed. In the moment of shock, he backed away from the horse. It swung and he dodged, the sword imbedding itself in a pole.  
Katsuki flipped the pan in the air. “You know, I think I'm starting to get the hang of this.” The horse ripped the sword from the pole and hit the pan out of Katsuki’s hand. It skid across the bridge until tipping off the edge. “Or, maybe not.” He amended.  
A large cracking sound distracted the horse from finishing off Katsuki. In its haste, the horse had ripped the pole free of its bindings. After a moment of still silence, the pole hit the water with a deafening crash. Other planks and boards followed, and the wood under Katsuki’s feet became unsteady.  
“Katsuki!” Victor’s voice called. “Grab hold!”  
Katsuki barely had time to register where victor’s voice was coming from before his silver hair landed at his feet. He wrapped it around his wrists.  
“Jump!” Called Victor.  
“Uuumm, I'm not really sure that's the best ideahhhh!” Victor yanked on the hair and Katsuki fell, Tarzan-esqe into the ravine.  
Katsuki landed face-first into Victor’s arms.  
“Katsuki, you broke the dam.” Victor said.  
“Really, I didn't notice.” Katsuki snapped back. “The tunnel keeps on going this way, come on.”  
As they ran into the hole, a roar grew behind them. They looked back to see a wall of half frozen water crashing through the tunnel.  
“Run, run, run!” Katsuki shouted. The tunnel walls were falling behind them, blocking that exit.  
“It's a dead end!” Victor said.  
“Are you sure?”  
“We’d still be going if I wasn't sure.”  
The walls caved in, leaving Katsuki and Victor in a small room steadily rising with water. They clawed at the walls, Katsuki dived again and again, looking for a way out- the tunnel had to lead _somewhere _. Finally, Katsuki sat back.__  
“It's too dark, it's hopeless.” He said. “I'm sorry, Victor.”  
The water was chest level now.  
“Katsuki, if we don't make it out of here alive-” Victor began.  
“Yuuri.”  
“What?”  
“My name is Yuuri. Not Katsuki. I just... I thought someone ought to know.”  
“Yeah, well, I have magic hair that glows when I sing.”  
“Wha-uh it glows?” The water was up to their necks now.  
Victor's face lit up. “Oh! Uh f-flower gleam and glow  
Let your powers shine,  
Make the clock reversebringbackwhatoncewas-” the water covered their heads.  
Then Victor's hair lit up, shining and silver and brilliant. Their eyes followed it till they saw where the water drew it, and pulled away the rocks until they made a large enough hole, and they were both pulled through.  
They were let out at a half frozen waterfall, gasping and sputtering for air. The cold became so obvious, and they could hardly swim to the shore because they were shaking so much.

__“Come on.” Katsuki- no, Yuuri- said. “We better make a fire and find a place to camp for the night.”_ _


	7. Hypothermia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Ka- I mean Yuuri?” Victor asked. It was still taking him time to switch the names around in his head. “Yuuri, wake up.” It had been an hour, maybe two. “Yuuri, your lips are blue, is that bad?” He was cold, and his fingers were bright red under Victor's white ones. “Yuuri, why did you give me your coat, you need it.” His breathing was light and shallow. “Yuuri!” He slapped him. “Yuuri what's wrong... Yuuri.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Laughs maniacally.  
> I can't write angst? I was dropping in on my group chat every five minutes complaining about how stupid Yuuri is. But yes. It's here.  
> Please support the work on Tumblr! My tumblr is nickelpenn! The fic is tagged #the moonlight thief! There's also art in there and my random rambles while writing it!  
> Comments and bookmarks are better than kudos! (Don't get me wrong, I hoard my kudos like a dragon) but please show your support! [read: feed my self esteem, it is like a baby bird]

They found a cave and were huddled up. It took some doing, but they managed to build a small fire and their coats were drying by it. They sat as close to each other and the fire as possible.  
“So, Yuuri, huh?” Victor asked. “Why'd you choose the name Katsuki in the first place?”  
“I was... I was an orphan. A troublemaker. No family wanted to take me in, so I was always the oldest kid in the orphanage.  
“We had one book. The adventures of the great Katsuki. And I was the only one who knew how to read, so I would read it over and over to all the other kids. These great adventures with pirates and princesses and daring rescues. And I guess, that's just what I wanted to become.”  
“Was Katsuki a thief too?”  
“No. He had all the money he needed.”  
Victor slung his arm over Yuuri, and the action was so easy, so natural, that he couldn't help but curl into his touch.  
“What's wrong with your hand?” Victor asked suddenly. Yuuri looked down to see a jagged cut across his palm. The cold and other worries had numbed it.  
“I must've cut it when we were trying to get out.” He clenched his cover it. “It'll be fine.”  
“You know how my hair is magic?” He twisted a lock of damp silver hair between his fingers. “Well, it doesn't just glow.”  
“What?” Yuuri asked.  
“Give me your hand.” Victor said. Yuuri held it out, palm up. “Just, don't freak out, okay?”  
“A lot of freaky things have been happening lately, what more can you do?” Yuuri deadpanned.  
Victor wrapped his hair around Yuuri’s palm. “Please, don't freak out.”  
“Flower, gleam and glow  
Let your powers shine  
Make the clock reverse  
Bring back what once was mine  
What once was mine.” Victor sang, gentle and timid. His hair lit the small cave, and although Yuuri knew logically, the temperature in the cave didn't change, but there was a warmth that started in his hand and ran up his arm, nestling inside his heart. He couldn't even hear the words, just a musical sensation.  
And the cave echoed with the memory of Victor’s voice. Only when everything was totally silent did Yuuri look at Victor, who was unwrapping his hand.  
The cut was gone.  
Yuuri opened his mouth speechlessly.  
“What is it-how does it work?”  
“I don't know, but it can cure cuts and ailments, even reverse aging. And so obviously, a... a lot of people want to get their hands on it. That's why I was up in that tower all that time. And if it’s cut, it goes dim and loses it’s magic.” He pulled a short lock, maybe two inches long, from the bottom of his neck. Although the color hadn't changed, it seemed so much... less than the rest of his hair. And not just by volume.  
The cave was almost black as their eyes adjusted from Victor's hair. However, the cave didn't get lighter as time passed, just darker. Victor shuddered next to him from cold. Yuuri leaned forward and grabbed his coat to put over them both.  
“What's your coat made out of, Victor? It's nowhere near dry.”  
“Mmmm I dunno.” Victor said. “Maybe it's cause the fire’s almost dead.”  
“You're right. I'm going out to get more wood.” He couldn't pull his coat off of Victor, though, he was stubbornly holding onto it.  
His silver lashes were delicately resting on his cheeks in the high contrast light from the dying fire. A strand of hair fluttered with his breath. Yuuri smiled and picked up Victor's still sopping coat. It was better than nothing, he supposed. He walked out into the vicious wind and falling snow.

Victor was too tired to really think. Yuuri was out, but he was safe. He would come back. Still, it was too cold to sleep. He curled up under Yuuri’s wool and fur coat. Didn't Yuuri need it? No, he had taken Victor's.  
“Victor.” Said a deep, familiar voice.  
“Yakov, go away, I'm tired.” He said, and rolled over. After a second, his eyes popped open. Yakov? He sat up, pulling the coat tighter around his shoulders.  
“I'm not going back.”  
“And why not? You're soaking wet, you barely have a fire, and your knight in shining armor isn't even here. You could come back and we could forget any of this ever happened. The hearth is still burning, you have dry clothes, your bed-”  
“I don't want to go back.” Victor said indignantly. “I like Yuuri, and I think he likes me.”  
“Oh.” Yakov scoffed. “So now Vitya knows best. Vitya’s so mature now. He doesn't like you. He doesn't care. All he wants is this-” Yakov thrust a leather satchel into the light of the simmering coals. “He doesn't want you-”  
“No!” Victor shouted. “He likes me for me, I'm sure of it.”  
“Oh, okay. Then give it to him. Watch him run and leave you for dead. He wants money, not romance-”  
“You're wrong!” Victor snarled. “I'll give it to him, just watch. He won't leave me. And I am never. going. back. to you.”  
“Here, then, Vitya.” Yakov said and tossed the crown to him. “Don't come crying back to me when he abandons you.”  
“Don't forget it.  
You’ll regret it.  
Yakov knows best.”  
And then the man was gone into the night, the only trace of his presence the golden crown which Victor held delicately in his hands. For a second, he twisted it, watching the jewels catch the low light.  
Then Yuuri walked in, his blueblack hair covered in half-melted snow. He poked the coals until they flared up a bit, and he added the wood. It steamed, because there would be no way of finding dry firewood in this weather.  
“What's that in your hand, Victor?” Yuuri asked. “It looks gold.”  
“Nothing.” Victor tucked the crown behind him. “Probably just a trick of the light.”  
“Oh, ok.” He added more wood to the fire. “There were footprints outside the cave. Did you go out for some reason?”  
“Yeah. I uh, had to use the bathroom. Did you find that horse somewhere while you were out?”  
“What hor- ohhhh, shit.” Yuuri said. Behind him was the guardhorse in all of its glory, looking disdainfully at the setup they were calling camp. “That thing hates me. We need to get it out of here.”  
“Oh, I'm sure it can't be that bad.” Victor said, standing. “Come here boy, what's your name?” Victor read the horse’s bridle.  
“Oh don't, that'll just humanize it.”  
“Hey, guess what, his name’s Yuri.”  
“Oooh no. His name can't be that.”  
“We’ll give him a nickname. How does Yurio sound?” The horse snorted unhappily.  
“He hates it. That's the one, it's gonna stick.” Yuuri said vehemently.  
“What’s your beef with the horse?” Victor ruffled its mane. “He's sweet.” Yurio snapped at Victor's hand.  
“See?” Yuuri asked. “He just wants to get me arrested.”  
“Oooh, Yurio, please don't. Just give me a day, and then he’s all yours.”  
“Excuse me?” Yuuri asked. “He's not going to-”  
However, Yurio lay down next to Victor.  
“The fire’s back up again. I'm cold so I'm going to try and sleep and forget it.”  
“Do you want your coat back?” Victor asked.  
“No, it's fine, yours is still wet.”  
“Oh, okay.” Victor said. He walked over to Yuuri and sat down gently. “Sleep well.”

“Ka- I mean Yuuri?” Victor asked. It was still taking him time to switch the names around in his head. “Yuuri, wake up.” It had been an hour, maybe two. “Yuuri, your lips are blue, is that bad?” He was cold, and his fingers were bright red under Victor's white ones. “Yuuri, why did you give me your coat, you need it.” His breathing was light and shallow. “Yuuri!” He slapped him. “Yuuri what's wrong... Yuuri.”  
He put his arms over Yuuri's shoulders. “Come on.”  
“F-flower gleam and glow,  
Let your powers shine,  
Make the clock reverse,  
Bring back what once was mine.  
What once was mine.”  
His head hurt incredibly. He’d never sung more than twice in one day, and even that was pushing it. But Yuuri’s lashes slowly fluttered open.  
“Am I dreaming? Were you singing just now?”  
“Yuuri!” Victor exclaimed, squeezing him. “I'm so glad!”  
“Why?”  
“If you ever pull self sacrificing shit like that again, I'm leaving you.”  
“Who said we were together? And where did you learn that word?”  
“What word?”  
“Shit.”  
“Hm? What happened?”  
“You're impossible.” Yuuri said, but Victor felt his hands tighten around his waist. “Thanks for saving me though.”  
Yurio huffed in the corner, the sentiment probably being _would you lovebirds knock it off? ___  
Victor draped the coat over the both of them, and Yuuri leaned his head on his shoulder. They watched the fire calmly.  
“That was scary though.” Victor said, and slipped his hand into Yuuri’s. The motion was thoughtless, he had done it so much. “Don't do that again.” He felt Yuuri's cheek move in his shoulder as he smiled.  
“I’m not planning on it."


	8. homecoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I told you the country lost a prince a while back, right? He was kidnaped when he was around a year old. He’s never been found. The common theory is that there was a ransom note, but the king couldn't pay it and the incident wasn't publicized so that we wouldn't know the exact financial problems of our government, which would probably incite a rebellion. The kidnapers were angry that they didn't get their money and killed the prince. In mourning, no boy’s been named Victor since."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i cant let you off on a happy note, now, can i?  
> this is the longest chapter yet, thank you for all the support, the comments (few they may be) get me through the day.  
> ***   
> Edit:  
> Hi! I have super bad writer's block, so I might take a break from this fic for a while. This chapter took a lot from me. I'll be back as soon as I can.

Yuuri and Victor woke up warm, which was nice. Yurio had joined them, and the large warm horse was keeping the cold from eating their fingers away.  
“Yuuri, wake up! It's my birthday!” Victor said, excited.  
“Happy birthday. Lemme sleep a bit longer.” Yuuri said, rolling over into Yurio’s hide. He spat out the hair. “What the- oh, it’s you.” He stared at the horse unhappily for a second before looking back to Victor.  
“Why are you so happy, the sun isn't even up yet.”  
“Come on, come on! I’m hungry and I want to see the city.”  
“You think you’re hungry, I haven’t eaten for two days.”  
“Then get up, grumpy.”  
“Fine.” He got up and stretched, looking at the barely red fire. He went to the mouth of the cave, gathered up an armful of snow and threw it over the charcoal.  
“Come on, the city is still two hour’s walk away.” Yuri said, and scowled at the horse. “Unless someone is willing to give us a ride.”  
Yurio tossed his mane to the side and huffed.  
“That’s what I thought.”

Victor ran ahead atop the bridge and looked back, his face lit up with his huge heart shaped smile. Half of his hair fell off of its perch on Yurio’s back. The Yuris shared a rare moment where they both sighed at Victor’s extravagance.  
They had to deal with the hair somehow, though. And obviously they couldn’t cut it, and it was too hard to keep loading it back into Yurio’s saddle.  
“What’re we gonna do?” Victor asked, exasperated.  
“I know someone.” Yuuri sid. “Three someone's, in fact. How are you with kids?”  
“I'm fine with them in theory but in practice I'm-”  
“Let's go!”

“This is Axel, Lutz, and Loop. If it’s something with hair, they can do it.” Yuuri said, pointing to three identical girls, all with different hairstyles. “Yo girls!” He shouted, then held up armfuls of Victor’s hair. Their jaws dropped.  
As they braided Victor’s hair with flowers, the girls wouldn't stop talking, much to Yuuri's annyoment.  
“Uncle Yuuri, it's been forever since you came to read to us.”  
“Uncle Yuuri, you're gonna tell us the story of the missing prince tonight, right?”  
“Is this guy your boyfriend? He’s too handsome for you.”  
“Hey, mister, what’s your name?”  
“Vi-” Victor began.  
“-tya. Vitya.” Yuuri said. “I'm his guide.”  
“He looks a lot like prince Victor, right?”  
“Who knows what the prince would've looked like.” Yuuri said. “There's no way anyone could predict what a child's face would grow up to be.”  
“Who- uh, who’s prince Victor?” Victor asked.  
“I told you the country lost a prince a while back, right? He was kidnaped when he was around a year old. He’s never been found. The common theory is that there was a ransom note, but the king couldn't pay it and the incident wasn't publicized so that we wouldn't know the exact financial problems of our government, which would probably incite a rebellion. The kidnapers were angry that they didn't get their money and killed the prince. In mourning, no boy’s been named Victor since.”  
“But Yuuri doesn't think the prince is dead, right?” Yuuri's eyes snapped to Axel, who was holding some winter flowers to put in Victor's hair. “He thinks he's still alive, waiting to be saved, and when he does-”  
“I don't know what you’re talking about.” Yuuri said.  
“Then they'll fall in love and he’ll make Yuuri the king!”  
“Okay, that’s enough. Is his hair done?”  
“Aren't you gonna stay?” The girls whined in unison.  
“Vitya wants to see the festival.” Yuuri said, grabbing his hand and pulling him from his criss-crossed position on the cold cobblestones. Even in intricate braids, Victor’s hair still dragged on the ground. His neck leaned back.  
“It’s so heavy.” He said, rolling his head around. “No offense to you of course,” he said to the girls, “it's beautiful and I love it. It's how much I have that’s the problem.”  
“You’ll come by later and read, right? And talk to Celestino?” Lutz asked.  
“Yes, of course. I just need to take care of Vitya.” Yuuri said. “I'm long overdue to come by anyway.”

They bought festival food and ate it while they walked. Yurio left to check on the guard, but only after Victor made him promise not to rat them out. How he had made the horse promise is a mystery, but Yuuri put his faith in him.  
“What were those girls talking about? Going to read to them and all.”  
“They're orphans from the orphanage I grew up in. Celestino runs the place. I drop by to read to them sometimes.”  
“And all of the politics? I thought you were a lowly thief.”  
“I stole the prince’s crown. I'm a very high class thief. I have to know my way around the political scene.”  
“This is starting to sound less like heists and more like fraud.” Victor teased.  
“I told you, I've done a lot of things.” Yuuri smiled. “Come on, there's a dancing square over there!”  
“What?”  
They came to the edge of a bunch of people. Yuuri’s face fell. “Oh, it's just a bunch of beggars. We’ll find another.”  
“What is it?”  
“Huh? A dancing square? Well- come over here, take of your coat.”  
“What? But it's freezing out.”  
“Trust me.” Yuuri said, pulling off his coat and hanging it on a post. Victor took his off and handed it to him. Yuuri led him into the large square, stopping at the edge, and pulled off his boots.  
“Come on, Vitya, it’s better if you take off your shoes.” Victor blushed hearing the term of endearment from Yuuri's lips. Again.  
“Okay.” Victor said, pulling off the boots, hopping from foot to foot on the freezing pavers.  
Yuuri held out his hand, standing in the square. Beggars were in the open space, laying on the ground. Victor took a step forward, onto warm stones.  
“What?” He asked, stepping around on them. “How come they’re warm?”  
“It's a big part of culture to dance outside. But because the festival’s in winter, people couldn't dance in the squares. So they dug out the space under it and burn coals to heat the stones. There's a couple vents around, see?” Victor looked, and there were metal grates in the ground out of which black smoke rose.  
“And so you dance?” He asked.  
“We dance.”

Yuuri watched Victor enjoy the festival, dancing and talking. Despite his complaints about his heavy hair, he moved like a wood nymph, spinning about on bare feet. There wasn't any doubt in his mind as he watched him, about what he felt and what he was going to do.

Victor couldn't remember ever being this happy, dancing with the city people and talking with the children. Yuuri took off his glasses while he danced, his hair slicked back, and Victor felt the full effect of what his smoulder was trying to achieve in the tower that first day. It hadn't been that long, really. Yuuri took off for a couple seconds to buy lanterns. This place was so bright, so happy so vibrant, Victor almost couldn't take it.  
He was never going back to his tower.

As dusk settled over the festival, Yuuri took Victor by the hand and led him to the bay which surrounded the better part of the city. It was frozen solid.  
“Yuuri, what are you doing?” Victor asked. “Why do you have a giant bag?”  
Yuuri smiled pensively as he slung the bag off his shoulder. “If this has been your dream for the past twenty years, well, I want to give you the best seat in the house. Put these on.” Yuuri tossed a pair of ice skates to Victor. He eyed them skeptically.  
“What are they.” He said in a flat tone.  
“They’re ice skates. Because of how cold our country is, one of the best forms of transportation is over ice. It’s become ingrained in the culture. Do you need me to help you put them on?”  
Victor already had them on.  
I guess it’s in his blood.  
“H-how do you walk in these?” Victor asked, standing. His ankles caved inwards.  
Yuuri stood too, and stepped slowly to Victor. “They aren't really for walking.” He held out his hand. “Come onto the ice.” Victor took his hand.  
It took Victor roughly two minutes to learn to skate forward.  
“There you go, you're getting it!” Yuuri praised. “Do you think you can do it without holding my hand now?”  
“Without a doubt.” Victor said. “But I’d rather not.”  
“So, in order to skate backwards, you-oh! It’s starting.” The city had gone dark, the festival lights dead and not a single window lit.  
At the top of the palace, a low, shining light appeared, and after it, a wave of silver lights ran down the city’s curving streets. Thousands of lanterns were released into the air. The sky was as bright as day.

Victor glanced sideways at Yuuri, who was attempting to light their lantern. The memory of a tune came to him- something he had sung to himself or something he had heard somewhere, he didn't know.  
“All those days watching from the windows  
All those years outside looking in  
All that time never even knowing  
Just how blind I've been  
Now I'm here blinking in the starlight  
Now I'm here suddenly I see  
Standing here it's all so clear  
I'm where I'm meant to be-

And at last I see the light  
And it's like the fog has lifted  
And at last I see the light  
And it's like the sky is new  
And it's warm and real and bright  
And the world has somehow shifted  
All at once everything looks different  
Now that I see you.”  
Yuuri was looking at him, an indefinable look on his face. 

He didn't want to leave him. He couldnt. And yet, Victor was right. This was where he was meant to be. But not with Yuuri.  
But just for this night.  
No, just for this moment. For this second, with Victor looking at the lanterns and the city with wonder in his eyes, looking at Yuuri the same way.  
Then they’d fall in love and make Yuuri the King! He remembered Loop saying. He didn't want a kingdom. He didn’t want any of that anymore.  
“All those days chasing down a daydream  
All those years living in a blur  
All that time never truly seeing  
Things, the way they were  
Now you’re here shining in the starlight  
Now you’re here suddenly I know  
If you’re here it's crystal clear  
I'm where I'm meant to go-” Yuuri knew the tune, and the words came on their own.

“And at last I see the light!” He was skating figures, like he always did when his mind was on something else.

“And it’s like a fog has lifted.” Victor was skating with him- it’s in his blood, Yuuri thought again.

“And at last I see the light!” They curved around each other. Victor couldn’t be more beautiful in the silver light.

“And it’s like the sky is new~” A lamp fell between the two of them, and Yuuri tapped it back into the air.

“And it’s warm and real and bright  
And the world has somehow shifted.  
And somehow everything is different.  
Now that I see you.” The circles they skated came closer together, and they slowed, until the space between them was shrinking to slow for either of them to bare. And so Victor leaned down and then there was no space between them at all.

Whenever Victor was reading, almost always the same book- an old book of fairy tales- the first kiss between the prince and the princess was passionate, fast, and dramatic. Usually with high stakes and great confessions of love. This kiss was nothing of the sort. It was soft and sweet and neither of them were certain of how to go about it. The memory of their voices lingered across the frozen bay.  
When Yuuri pulled away, it was with tears in his eyes.  
“What’s wrong?” Victor asked.  
“I’m so selfish.” He said. “I’m not going to let you go.”  
“Yuuri, I have to tell you something.” Victor said. The bag that he had carried with him, virtually unnoticed, was slung off his shoulder. He opened it, exposing the gleaming crown. “I was worried, I don't really know why, but I was worried you’d leave me if I gave it to you. Silly, right?”  
Yuuri took the bag gingerly, his eyes darted to the shoreline, and his expression darkened.  
“I’ll be back in just a second.” He said, and brushed his lips across Victor’s cheekbone. “I swear.”


End file.
